NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Olyphant, PA
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
13 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Olyphant, Pennsylvania since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Isaias in 2020. Since 1950, 51 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 1 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 12
- Tornadoes
- 51
- EF3 or stronger
- 1
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
2 deaths in all
What the records show for Olyphant
The strongest storm to pass near Olyphant was an unnamed storm in 1878, a Category 1 hurricane with 81 mph winds when its centre passed 9 miles away. The record near Olyphant begins with an unnamed storm in 1878; the most recent system was Isaias in 2020, a tropical storm 41 miles away. The 1890s and the 1970s were the busiest decades, with 2 systems each. Of the 13 systems, one has come since 2000. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities on this site, 45% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Olyphant. The strongest of the 51 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F3 on June 2, 1998; its path came within 12 miles, and it killed 2 people. Of the 51, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 26 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on July 2, 2023. Of the 794 Pennsylvania cities, 61% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Olyphant. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 64 times since 1959, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Olyphant has more hail reports within 10 miles than 59% of the 794 Pennsylvania cities.
Compare Olyphant's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Olyphant
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | IsaiasAug 4 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 6 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1972 | AgnesJun 23 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1952 | AbleSep 1 | 56 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 29 | 3 mi | Tropical storm (56 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1933 | Unnamed 1933 stormAug 24 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (45 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1929 | Unnamed 1929 stormOct 3 | 5 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 4 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1903 | Unnamed 1903 stormSep 17 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1899 | Unnamed 1899 stormNov 1 | 45 mi | Tropical storm (55 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 29 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (63 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 22 | 41 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormOct 23 | 9 mi | Category 1 (81 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Olyphant: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Olyphant
By decade
- 2020s2
- 2010s19
- 2000s5
- 1990s18(1 EF3+)
- 1980s4
- 1970s1
- 1960s1
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2, 1998 | F3 | 12 mi | 26 mi | 2 / 15 |
| Jun 13, 2018 | EF2 | 20 mi | 2.9 mi | 0 / 6 |
| Feb 25, 2017 | EF2 | 6 mi | 12.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 23, 2010 | EF2 | 18 mi | 25.72 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 1, 2006 | F2 | 22 mi | 20 mi | 0 / 5 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 24 mi | 3 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1998 | F2 | 23 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 18, 1991 | F2 | 21 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 28, 1988 | F2 | 25 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Sep 13, 1972 | F2 | 25 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 4, 1960 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 17, 1954 | F2 | 14 mi | 2 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 51, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Olyphant
The Storm Prediction Center has 64 hail reports within 10 miles of Olyphant since 1959, made on 44 separate days. Of these, 35 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 24, 1985. The most recent report is from July 15, 2024. May has the most reports, 16.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Olyphant
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Wilkes-Barre International Airport, PA, 12 miles southwest of Olyphant at 930 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 63°F; January is the coolest, at 36°F and 20°F. September is the wettest at 4.2 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.1 inches; the year adds up to 39.0 inches over 80 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 57% of the year's precipitation (22.1 of 39.0 inches); the other six months are drier. August has brought the most of the 13 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (6); a normal August there has highs of 82°F and 3.9 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 12 days a year, almost all from June to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 122 nights a year. Snowfall averages 45.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 39.0 inches is more than at 9 of the 148 Pennsylvania stations used on this site (6%). Jermyn, 5 miles north, has its own station (Pleasant Mt 1 W, PA): 51.5 inches a year, 12.5 more than here, and a July average high of 77°F against 85°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 20 | 2.6 | 6 | 11.7 |
| Feb | 39 | 22 | 2.1 | 6 | 10.9 |
| Mar | 48 | 29 | 2.8 | 7 | 10.1 |
| Apr | 61 | 39 | 3.3 | 7 | 0.8 |
| May | 72 | 50 | 3.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 80 | 58 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 85 | 63 | 3.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 82 | 61 | 3.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 75 | 54 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 63 | 43 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.7 |
| Nov | 51 | 34 | 2.9 | 6 | 3.2 |
| Dec | 40 | 26 | 2.8 | 6 | 7.7 |
| Year | 61 | 42 | 39.0 | 80 | 45.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Wilkes-Barre International Airport, PA (930 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Olyphant
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 244 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Olyphant: 168 thunderstorm wind reports, 60 flash floods, 9 lightning strikes and 7 floods. They killed 3 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $56.4 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on November 25, 2004. August has had the most flash floods, 15 of 60. Of the 788 Pennsylvania cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 557 have had fewer than Olyphant.
September 9, 2023: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Olyphant — 2 killed, 2 injured, $2.5 million damage.
July 16, 2021: lightning strike 8 miles from the centre of Olyphant — 1 killed.
September 9, 2023: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Olyphant — 4 injured, $100,000 damage.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Olyphant's ZIP code 18447 have filed 96 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1983, and were paid $566,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1996: 32 claims (33% of all) and $257,000, then Hurricane Gloria in 1985 with 17. 54% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 553 Pennsylvania cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 367 have fewer than Olyphant.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1996 | 32 | $257,000 |
| Hurricane Gloria1985 | 17 | $49,000 |
Lackawanna County, which includes Olyphant, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1972, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 floods, 7 severe storms, 4 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 30, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Lackawanna County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for hurricanes, tornadoes, strong wind and heat waves; Very Low for hail. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $72.4 million a year, the 15th highest of 67 Pennsylvania counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $57.2 million (79%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.